


Secrets of the First Ones (Part 1)

by SteveM



Series: Multiverse Madness [1]
Category: Batwoman (TV 2019), She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018), Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-20
Updated: 2020-09-20
Packaged: 2021-03-07 18:54:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,194
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26562436
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SteveM/pseuds/SteveM
Summary: After rescuing Kara from Darkseid's clutches the World's Finest are about ready to kick back and relax for a day or two. Unfortunately a presumed-dead Oliver pops up in their apartment seeking their aid to help bring balance in his duties as the Spectre balancing the newly-created (but Barry-proofed) multiverse...
Relationships: Adora & Catra (She-Ra), Adora/Catra (She-Ra), Kara Danvers & Kate Kane, Kara Danvers/Kate Kane
Series: Multiverse Madness [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1931842
Comments: 3
Kudos: 32





	1. Recap

**Author's Note:**

> So a big hello to anyone coming here from the She-Ra side of the multiverse. Really, really hope this lives up to your expectations as, well, the series sets a pretty high standard for quality of storytelling!
> 
> As this is part of a pretty long running series allow me to present a very brief synopsis of where the CW heroes are at this point: post-Crisis Supergirl felt like she'd let an entire multiverse of people die. Batwoman turns up in National City to slap some sense into her. They end up married. World-and-universe-threatening wackiness ensued along the way. The details await in about three novels worth of stuff in my archives if you want to dive in ;-)

There was a moment of silence then the world around them shimmered and twisted to become a mass of swirling colour and light. There was no sense of movement yet as the patterns stretched out and reformed into solid shapes even Kara suddenly felt a moment of exhaustion as if she’d been travelling for days without rest. It passed quickly as the shapes formed details and they found themselves standing on a hillside overlooking a beautiful valley. Running lazily down its centre was a crystal clear river while gentle sweeps and falls of smaller hills gave way to lush grasslands. 

“Wow…” Kara breathed, the sight even more spectacular coming so soon after the ruin and fire of Apokolips. 

“Yeah, that about sums it up.” Kate agreed before a sudden realisation hit her. “Hey, wait a minute!”

“What? What is… oh.” Kara took a quick look at her wife then a glance down at her own body in confusion. She was dressed casually in jeans and a t-shirt, her glasses on her face and hair pulled back into a ponytail. Kate, on the other hand, was clad in the Batsuit complete with cowl.

“Oh I’m going to kill him, if I’ve got to be in full costume then so should y… uh… where’s Ollie?” Kate asked and Kara spun around. Sure enough, no matter how hard she stretched her senses she couldn’t find a single sign of their spiritual tour guide anywhere.

“Great start.” Kate muttered. “I really should know better than to let Oliver Queen do the planning.”

Kara went to reply when there was an enormous explosion from further up the hill. Without a moment’s hesitation they both scrambled up it. Reaching the crest they instinctively ducked into cover behind a handy boulder and stared at the large plateau. On the right side were seemingly endless lines of robotic humanoid forms, exposed cables and glowing green eyes giving them a creepy skeletal feel. On their chests that same green light glowed in three circles forming an inverted pyramid, two on top and one beneath linked by silver lines.

Facing them was a much smaller force of humans, most in battered green and grey armour and brandishing a variety of weapons from guns to shock sticks. Their ranks were boosted by a number of large spherical robots on three spidery legs and at their head a blonde woman stood calmly facing the approaching death. She too wore armour but hers was red and white, as if trying to draw attention to herself in the drab colours of her soldiers. She held a sword in her hand and seemingly without a care in the world raised it to point at the robotic army. Her voice rang out in the clear air and both Kate and Kara felt the command within it as she called her forces to battle.

“For Etheria!”


	2. Chapter 2

Kate Kane swore vigorously as her wife dove towards her and slammed her to the ground, shards of stone raining down around them as a stray energy blast took out the boulder they’d been using for cover.

“You okay?” Kara asked, shielding Kate from any further shots and casually tapping another rock in front of them with her foot.

“Yeah yeah, I’m fine. Thanks by the way.” Kate flicked her cape to the side and adjusted the cowl slightly.

“We’ve got to help them!” Kara moved to take off her glasses but Kate grabbed her arm.

“Woah, hang on! We’ve literally been in this universe for five minutes and while I appreciate it’s a stupid question given one side is robot skeletons with glowing eyes how do you know which side to help?”

“I know that symbol!” Kara pointed at the inverted pyramid on the chest of each and every robot. The green circles at each point of the pyramid glowed green, a silver line connecting them. “Those are soldiers of Brainiac and, trust me, that’s never good!”

“But… Brainy never seemed…”

“Brainy’s different, he’s a descendent of the original. Who, by the way, Brainy *himself* refers to as the unspeakable one.”

“So, evil.”

“And those are his forces and the people they’re fighting are outnumbered!”

Kate sighed and shook her head. “Okay, fine, you’re right of course. But, uh, do me a favour?”

“Is now really the time?”

“Leave the glasses on.” At Kara’s surprised look Kate rolled her eyes. “You recognise his symbol, there’s a chance he’ll recognise yours too. Let’s not give the game away until we have to.”

“Oh. Right. Good thinking.” Kara said abashed that she hadn’t thought of that herself. “Shall we?”

“After you my love.” Kate said and smiled as Kara hesitated just long enough to kiss her before leaping over the boulder and charging in to battle.

To Kate’s surprise Kara managed to hold herself back enough to run at something approaching a fast human sprint rather than blurring into battle. As she fell into place at Kara’s right hand Kate did a quick check of the rapidly developing battle in front of them. The human force was holding its shape well, keeping large metal shields at the front which seemed to absorb the energy bolts while those behind were firing around and over the shield wall with everything from similar energy weapons to the Brainiac army to what looked like bows and arrows. Though, in fairness, she did spot one of the arrows explode when it hit its target so presumably things weren’t quite as they seemed.

The far side of the field was lined with dense trees and off to their right the lines of robots steadily advanced despite their casualties. From the middle of the human forces the red and white-clad figure that had called them into battle raced forward, ducking and spinning around incoming fire with casual ease that spoke of a lifetime training for war. The sword in her hand slashed to the left and sliced one robot clean in half with a downward stab through its head finishing it off. Instantly she was on to the next one as she worked her way into the heart of the formation.

“She’s going to get herself surrounded.” Kate said and Kara nodded.

“Follow me!” The girl of steel called, turning to angle in towards the warrior. The line of robots rushed up in front of them and Kara still, somehow, held herself back. Rather than slicing through them with her heat vision she settled for just punching them apart, trying to be as efficient as she could in her blows. As always they fell into a natural rhythm, Kara downing each drone and Kate delivering the death blow with a mix of exploding Batarangs and a short, black sword that had unfolded from a hilt she’d pulled out of her utility belt.

“Do you always carry that?” Kara asked once she spotted the unusual weapon.

“Yeah, but I try not to use it in Gotham. Way too tempting to poke a few holes in the more irritating class of criminal.”

“Probably for the best.” Kara agreed and now they were almost to the blonde who seemed to realise she had over-extended and had stopped her headlong charge. She had the sword in guard position and was actually deflecting energy blasts as those drones with a clear shot opened fire. 

“We’re here to help!” Kara called, wanting to make sure that they didn’t accidentally end up fighting the people they were here to save. That did seem to happen an awful lot on these cross-reality adventures after all…

The woman heard her and glanced up, checking the area around them. She tapped her ear and Kara heard her speak a single word.

“Now.”

Instantly the tree line erupted with blinding blue flashes that cut into the flank of the Brainiac horde. As the first salvo died away a shape flashed in the tree tops, leaping from branch to branch as it worked its way to the edge of the battle then launched itself into space, tumbling towards the blonde warrior. When it was ten feet from the ground its arm and legs slashed out and sparks flew as claws met metal. Four drones fell clattering to the grass as the figure landed behind the blonde and immediately took up a back-to-back fighting stance.

“Hey Adora, what did I miss?”

“Oh just a few dozen drones. Nice ambush by the way.”

“Told you it’d work and… hey, who are these two?”

The last was said in a suspicious tone as Kara and Kate breached the wall of drones around the pair and automatically mirrored the same back-to-back pose. 

“We’re friends.” Kate said as she slid into a ready stance, the blade hanging almost casually in front of her. “I’d suggest we save the details until things are a bit quieter.”

“That’s not a bad idea.” Adora said and there was a note of worry in her voice. “There’s still a lot of these things and we could use the help.”

“Alright, fine, but try anything and I’ll gut you.” Kate glanced to the side and was shocked to see the woman who’d triggered the ambush had furry cat ears and what she was suddenly thinking of as a mane. Compared to the strongly muscled blonde this one was lithe and lean, though there was a definite vibe of barely controlled power and fury behind the mismatched blue and yellow eyes.

“Fair enough. Shall we?” Kate said with a grin and was surprised when she got the smallest of grins in return that showed one small fang.

“Oh by all means, let’s.” The four struck out as one, moving their permitter slowly outwards. Kate let her instincts take over as she ducked and whirled around the incoming fire and outstretched metal hands, the short black sword slashing and cutting with precision. The part of her that was always looking for the next threat along with the next solution drank in the tactical position and the fighting style of those around her.

Kara, to Kate’s surprise, was still holding back her full power settling for super-powered punches and kicks coupled with just enough speed to stay ahead of any danger. Once or twice Kate caught a blur of movement and suspected Kara was using those moments to check none of her fellow fighters was in any danger. After all while she was happy to keep her true abilities secret she would never do so if it put anyone else in the firing line.

Adora was… was what, Kate wondered, risking allowing a little more of her attention to watch the blonde woman carving her way through the gathered horde of Brainiac drones. She was clearly skilled and her style was a mix of powerful sword play and physical blows with her fists, feet and anything else that happened to be useful at the time. Everything spoke of rigorous training coupled with a pragmatic approach to the fight in front of her. But there was something odd about how she moved, there was an… a stuttering to her motions as if she were expecting to hit harder, take out her foes quicker and then needed to adjust for a follow-up strike.

The woman with the cat ears was the most surprising of all however and Kate found herself fascinated by the way she moved. Apparently the ears weren’t the only thing cat-like about her as she moved with a speed and surety that reminded Kate of a predator hunting its prey. Her blows were ferocious and struck with her own claws both on her fingers and, Kate realised with a start, on her toes as she was barefoot and seemingly not noticing the rough ground or sharp metal that increasingly covered the grass. She was also very definitely reluctant to get too far from Adora and Kate smiled to herself as she recognised the same protective instinct she had towards Kara. Well wasn’t that interesting…

“Is that it?” Kara called and Kate pulled her sword from the guts of one last drone to look around her.

“Seems to be.” Adora replied. “Between us and the crossfire from the rest of our division they didn’t have much of a chance.”

“Oh sure, NOW you say that. An hour ago it was all ‘it’ll never work Catra, we should just go full She-Ra’.”

Kara and Kate glanced at each other in confusion and Kate shrugged. She had no idea what that meant but had been in or around enough war zones to know that there was always some sort of weird code in use.

“Was not!”

“Oh please, you were practically hugging that sword.”

Kara glanced over at the sword and stiffened slightly just before it flared and turned into a golden arm brace over Adora’s left forearm. 

“No, that was just… just… just…”

“Anytime you want to admit I’m right…”

“No I… was just… checking it was still pointy.”

The feline rolled her eyes and shook her head. “Right. Pointy. Got it. Now on to the important part… who the hell are you two? And what in name of Etheria are you wearing!”

“Ah.” Kate felt a blush start to creep over her and angrily forced it down. Bats did not blush damn it! “Well… this is going to sound odd but this isn’t how I normally dress… sort of.”

“Oh not you. Cape, mask, I get it. Cool colour combo by the way. You on the other hand…” The mismatched eyes gleamed as they focused on Kara who looked confused for a moment.

“Umm, jeans?” 

The woman facepalmed, being careful to avoid scratching herself with her claws. “This is going to take a while isn’t it?”

“Probably.” Kate agreed. “The short version is we’re on a mission to.. to help where needed. And I’m pretty sure we’re needed here.”

“We had that under control but you certainly fight well.” The shaggy mane turned as the woman addressed Adora. “I’m assuming you’re going to trust them?”

“Umm… yes?” Adora sounded like she hadn’t even considered that to be a question.

“Fine.” One clawed hand was extended and Kara took it carefully. “I’m Catra, that’s Adora. Welcome to the army of Bright Moon.”

“Uh, Supergirl. That’s Batwoman.” Kara had to focus not to coo over how soft Catra’s fur felt in her hand and wasn’t entirely sure how best to present them to these people. She figured their superhero names were better for now, doubly so if she was right about what she’d seen…

“Cute. Come on, let’s get the troops back to somewhere a bit more fortified and we’ll get you into the ranks.” Catra turned and led the way, Kara and Adora walking side by side behind her and Kate bringing up the rear. They hadn’t been on the go more than a minute before Kate saw the telltale signs she’d been expecting. Catra kept glancing back in theory to check they weren’t being followed but each and every time her gaze always went to Adora. In turn Adora’s head kept turning slightly to track Catra’s movements. Even in the middle of a battlefield they clearly struggled to focus on anything but each other. Well, Kate thought, it was certainly cute and she hardly had grounds to complain considering she was pretty damn sure that if their positions were swapped Catra would be noticing the exact same thing between her and Kara.

“So, umm, we’re kinda new around here.” Kara said quietly to Adora who let out a snort of laughter.

“You don’t say.”

“That obvious?” Kara winced but Adora placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

“Well aside from the really… odd… clothes and seemingly not knowing either myself or Catra I’m pretty sure we’d have heard about another pair of princesses kicking ass against those things.”

Kara blinked at the unexpected title but to her complete lack of surprise Kate jumped right in to the gap.

“Woah, hold on, I’m no princess. Supergirl, yes, that’s fair but…”

“Hey!” Kara said indignantly.

“What? Long blonde hair, blue eyes, gorgeous, worshipped by all… read a fairytale sometime.” Kate teased.

“You’re saying you’re not worshipped?” Kara threw back with a wicked gleam in her eyes.

“By all? No, just by one. Feared by all, yes, that’s the way it should be.” Kate heard something that might just have been a snicker from Catra as she half-turned to join in the conversation.

“I think I’m gonna like this one Adora.”

“Oh you’re two peas in a pod, clearly.” Adora sighed. “What I meant was you have powers.”

“See, told you you were the princess around here.” Kate said before Kara had a chance to talk.

“Wait, don’t you have…?” Adora asked confused. She hadn’t been able to get a really good look at Kate in the fight and had just seen a lot of broken drones at her feet and a black blur slicing from one target to the other.

“Powers? No, just a regular… umm, person under this cowl.”

“And I’ve got powers but I’m pretty sure I’m not a princess.” Kara put in. “Krypton wasn’t big on royalty.”

“Kryp..ton?” Adora asked, her brow furrowed. “Why does that sound… familiar?”

Kate and Kara shared a glance before Kara shrugged. “Honestly, I don’t know. When I said we’re new around here I didn’t just mean Bright Moon.”

“Wait, you’re… you’re aliens?” Catra gasped, halting the little procession and moving slightly closer to Adora in a protective stance.

“Uh, from your perspective yes, probably.” Kate admitted. “Though where we come from she’s the alien, I’m the native.”

“And where might that be?” Catra was almost in an attack position now and Kate had no idea why. 

“A planet called Earth. But we’re pretty sure we’re not actually from this universe.”

“I.. wait, what?” Catra blinked her big eyes, suddenly just as confused as Adora.

“It’s a really really long story but we seem to have a habit of getting sucked into trips across realities. A friend of ours asked for our help saving the entire multiverse by, well, by helping out in specific circumstances. Only he seems to have vanished on the way so we’ve got no real idea what we’re doing here or even if we’re *supposed* to be here.”

“But when I saw those drones had Brainiac’s symbol on them we thought you might want the help regardless of whether we’re supposed to be here or not.” Kara put in. 

“Well you’re right about that.” Adora said, placing a hand on Catra’s shoulder and squeezing reassuringly. “Ever since this Brainiac turned up it’s been one desperate fight and usually retreat after another. This was the first proper victory we’ve had.”

“Let’s see if we can keep that going.” Kara said with a winning smile that even seemed to work on Catra who shrugged and gestured them on. 

“Sounds good to me. Really thought we’d seen the last of intergalactic lunatics after Horde Prime. Stay close, the woods can be tricky if they don’t know you.”

They marched in silence for a while, the tight passages between the trees forcing them to go single file much of the time. After maybe half an hour Kate became aware of a gentle glow from a clearing up ahead.

“Supergirl?”

“Yeah, I see it too.” Kara confirmed. “I assume this is where we’re going?”

“Yep.” Adora said happily as they stepped out from the shade of the wood into bright sunlight. “Welcome to the Crystal Castle. Umm, mark 2. The first one… exploded. Slightly.”

“It’s beautiful.” Kate said, admiring the soaring crystal shapes that arrowed up into the sky, its walls reflecting both the sunlight and the forest around it into dazzling rainbow shades. Still, something about it was familiar somehow… Kara, she realised, hadn’t said anything but was looking at it with an odd expression, as if she knew she was going to have to give someone bad news and wasn’t looking forward to it.

“Well it’s also just about the most secure building on the planet and the woods tend to be a good natural defence so it made sense to use it as a base.” Catra explained knowing full well that Adora was enjoying seeing the strangers reaction and wanting to let her bask in the moment as long as possible.

“Really? I’d have thought crystal would be a little… umm, fragile?” Kate said as they walked through rows of tents towards what was clearly the main entrance.

“You’d be surprised.” Catra gave a small, private smile that Adora mirrored, both clearly sharing a private joke. “Besides the bulk of it is below ground, getting past the door is only the start of someone’s problems.” She gave a small shudder and Adora placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

“Spiders?” The word was a whisper but of course Kara couldn’t help but hear it.

“Yeah…” Catra reached up and squeezed Adora’s hand, enjoying the warmth in the blonde’s sparkling blue eyes. “That was not a good day.”

“So I was thinking…” Adora said to their guests, changing the subject before Catra could dwell on the dark memories that always seemed to go hand in hand with this place. “We’ve got the most advanced tech on Etheria inside, we could see if we can figure out where you came from and how you got here, maybe help get you back home?”

“And check we’re not some elaborate plan of Brainiac’s?” Kate asked but she said it gently and raised a hand to cut off the inevitable protest. “It’s okay, I’d do the same in your position. Supergirl?”

“Sure. Why not?” Kate turned, puzzled, to face her wife and was surprised to see her almost hesitant to approach the structure. She wanted to ask what was going on but suddenly it seemed like the wrong question to ask, at least in such a public setting.

“Great! Come on, I’ll just open it up and…” Adora was barely steps away from the door, her hand outstretched towards the crystal when a red light shot out and played over Kara. Before anyone could react it finished its sweep, snapped off and the door rumbled down.

“What the…” Catra said in shock then she was a blur of movement, covering the ground to Kara in two swift bounds to place her claws at the blonde’s throat. “How did you do that!”

“Hey Catra, easy!” Adora called as she hurried to join them. “I’m sure there’s a good explanation!”

Kara sighed, making sure not to press into Catra’s claws. “There is but I think you’re going to want to have this talk somewhere a little more private.”

“Well that’s convenient considering the only private place here is inside.” Catra snarled.

“I know so…” Kara sighed again, this wasn’t going to be easy. “Adora, would you mind showing me your sword? I want to be sure I’m right about this.”

“And now you want us to just give you…” Catra was almost hissing the words but Kara carefully shook her head. 

“No, don’t give me anything, just hold it so I can see the blade. Please?”

Adora hesitated then nodded, her arm brace flaring as it transformed into the sword. She saw Kara’s eyes flick over the wide blade and the odd markings covering the upper third then Kara refocused on Adora herself.

“Protection.” She said the word confidently and saw Adora’s look of shock. For a moment the world seemed to hold its breath then Adora slipped the sword on to her back.

“You’re right, we do need to have this conversation in private.”

“Adora!”

“No, it’s okay Catra. Let’s go. All four of us. And stay close, I’m not sure how the castle will respond to you.”


	3. Chapter 3

They didn’t speak again until they’d gone through several corridors to arrive in a large many-sided room in the heart of the castle. Adora waved a hand at a console and four chairs seemed to materialise from thin air in a tight circle. She gestured to them and everyone sat a little uneasily.

“Alright, I’m listening.” Adora said, her eyes locked on Kara. “How did you know this is the sword of protection?”

“It’s written on the blade.” Kara said and now she really did sound like she was telling someone they had a terminal diagnosis.

“And how do you know that?” Adora’s tone too had gone flat with an air of danger to it.

“Because I can read it.”

“What?” Catra looked in shock from Adora to Kara and back again. “You can read the language of the First Ones?”

“Umm… sort of.” Kara squirmed slightly. “I can read Kryptonese.”

“What?” This time it was Kate that interrupted. “Uh, Supergirl, I know a bit of your language and that doesn’t look the same to me?”

“It’s an old dialect.” Kara said and she threw an apologetic look at Adora. “I, umm, learnt the basics in my history studies. It’s a little different here, as if a bit of the new is mixed in, but… umm… think of it as same words, different font.”

“Wait wait wait, you learned about this language in *history* class?” Adora said, trying to come to terms with the revelation. “How? I mean, no-one on Etheria knows about it! Well, except a couple of historians and they think Lunch means Love!”

“We did say we came from a different reality.” Kara said kindly. “Where we come from I was sent to Earth, Kate’s home, to protect my infant cousin. The language here, the architecture of this place… it’s not quite the same but it’s close enough that I recognise it as, well, Kryptonian.”

“So… you’d know…” Adora broke off, her expression turning hard. “Why should I believe any of this? It could still be a trap.”

“Uh, actually, I don’t think it is.” Everyone turned in surprise to look at Catra. “What? Think about it. Sure she could have all this stuff memorised to throw you off but the castle itself scanned her and let her in. I’ve only ever seen it do that for one person. No passwords, no shortcuts, it just recognised something in her.”

“Alright… let’s say that’s true. What do we do now?” Adora demanded. “Do I just hand over the sword and, what, walk away?”

Catra’s eyes narrowed and her tail flicked angrily. “Would that be such a bad thing?”

“Yes! No… maybe. I don’t know…”

“Uh, for what it’s worth I’m pretty sure that’s not why we’re here. If we’re supposed to be here in the first place.” Kara said, cursing Oliver for just abandoning them in the middle of all this without so much as a crib sheet. 

“So why are you here?” Adora said but a little of the anger seemed to have eased at least.

“Well.. you’ve got a Brainiac problem. Why don’t you tell us about it and let’s see what we can do to help?” Kate said, figuring now was a good time to try and steer away from Kara’s potential links to this place.

Catra nodded at Adora and the blonde got up, walked to a console and called up a hologram that floated between the chairs. It showed a map of a continent and overhead…

“Oh. That’s not good.” Kara said flatly.

“You’ve got a real talent for understatement.” Catra put in sarcastically. “Doesn’t matter what we do or how many of those drones we take out there’s always more of them. We think that…” She stabbed a claw at a massive chunk of metal on the edge of the map. “… is some sort of production facility but we can’t get within shooting distance, much less actually have a look inside.”

“You’re right.” Kara confirmed, her face grave. “It’s a mobile factory, dropped off in a seed pod by that skull ship floating in orbit and controlled directly from there by Brainiac. Normally he drops a bunch of them all over a planet, they build up the production facilities from any population centres they can find and swarm over the world from there. I wonder why there’s only one of them here…”

Adora and Catra shared a look and Adora spoke slowly into the silence. “That… used to be the Fright Zone. Where a previous attempt at conquering the planet was based. It’s pretty much the only place on Etheria made out of metal and powered exclusively by technology. Everything else is at least partially dependent on magic for its protection and power.”

“That’d do it.” Kara confirmed. “If your Brainiac is anything like ours he can adapt magic to his needs but it takes a long time and wouldn’t help him much if there’s not enough raw materials.”

“So… good news, there’s just the one target.” Kate put in. “Bad news, that still leaves the ship. I don’t suppose you’ve got any space ships of your own?”

“One.” Adora confirmed. “But it’d be no match for that.”

“It might not need to be.” Kara said thoughtfully. “The reason Brainiac controls the factory directly is every drone gets programmed from the skull ship. If you can cut that link off you’d sever the reinforcements.”

“Great. How do we do that?” Adora asked with a tinge of sarcasm in her voice. “We don’t exactly have a magical signal blocker hanging around the place.”

“The one time magic can’t solve our problems…” Catra grumbled then looked guilty at Adora’s expression. “What? It’s not like you ever had trouble when you needed to pull something out of nowhere to stop me!”

“Not to ask stupid questions but what about the crystal castle itself?” Kate said, making a mental note of the ‘stop me’ part of Catra’s reply. “If this place is anything like the fortress of solitude it might have some pretty powerful tech hidden away.”

Adora sighed and beckoned Kara over to the control console. “Come and have a look, maybe you’ll see something I missed.” Kara did as she was asked but as her hands brushed the controls another scanner snapped on, this time running over both her and Adora.

“Two operators detected. Awaiting passcode.”

“What the hell!” Adora said, looking in shock at Kara.

“It’s not done that before?”

“NO! But there’s never been another first one here either so how should I know what’s going on?”

“Uh, not to cause any panic but is this likely to trigger the security programmes?” Catra asked urgently and Adora’s eyes went wide.

“Catra, get her out of here! Supergirl, stay with me!”

Kate almost objected but saw the tiny nod from her wife and didn’t argue. She took off running on Catra’s heels, pushing herself to keep up with the sprinting feline. 

“Okay, passcode, passcode… uh, Eternia!”

“Passcode not recognised.”

“Grayskull!”

“Passcode not recognised.”

“Light hope!”

“Passcode not recognised.” A red light snapped on and there was a deep rumble as doors started to drop into place. Kara looked around and saw flashes of text dancing around the edge of the room as the light hit crystal structures. One, in particular, caught her eye and she reached out to place a hand on Adora’s shoulder.

“I’ve got an idea.” She pulled the other blonde in close and whispered in her ear.

“You’re sure?”

“No but it’s worth a try! Together on three?”

“Sure, why not? One…”

“Two.”

“Three.”

The two women looked at each other and said the same two words in unison.

“El Mayarah.”

“Passcode accepted.” The lights flicked back to normal and the doorways started to open up again. Adora looked at Kara in astonishment.

“Okay, how?”

“It means Stronger Together and it’s the creed of my family, the House of El.” She pointed at a pillar on the far side of the room where an intricate pattern shone in amongst the crystals. “It’s a little different but that’s what our sigil would look like in your writing. I thought it was worth a try.”

“Well you weren’t wrong. Thank you. Now what did it do… oh.”

“Uh, was that door there before?”

“No. No it wasn’t.” Adora squared her shoulders and stepped towards the entrance. Kara fell into step beside her and Adora seemed a little surprised. “You don’t have to come with me. It might be dangerous.”

“Of course it might. And of course I do. Don’t worry, danger is practically a way of life at this point and I might just surprise you.” Kara said with a grin that, to her relief, she finally saw Adora return. 

“Alright, but I did try to talk you out of this.”

“Noted.”

The door led to another long corridor which ended in what seemed to be some sort of control room. In the middle was a large dais hosting several consoles and a blue-white light pulsed slowly through the walls. Above them was carved the stars that watched over Etheria and the floor was covered with intricate runes all in the circuit-board script of the First Ones.

“Wow. What is this place?”

“I’m not sure.” Kara replied. “But it does look a little… familiar somehow. A little more like what I’m used to.”

“Welcome to the Etheria monitoring station.” A hologram jumped to life slightly too close to them and both women jumped, grabbing on to each other for mutual support. “How may I assist you?”

“Umm… hi. Uh… what are you monitoring? Exactly?” Adora asked, trying not to get too distracted by the attractive blonde suddenly well within her personal space. She glanced over and noticed Kara blush as she tried, unsuccessfully, to back out of the impromptu almost-hug with some grace.

“Query not recognised.”

“Oh not this again!” Adora groaned, her head in her hands. “I really hate holograms.”

“Query not recognised.”

“What is the function of this facility?” Kara asked and suddenly her voice was a lot more formal than Adora was used to.

“To monitor the status of Etheria’s defence grid.”

“That’s the same question!” Adora said with a full-blown pout. Kara gave her a small, apologetic shrug.

“Sorry. We were surprisingly rigid about letting our A.I. think for themselves.”

“We? We still don’t know that we’re a we!”

This time the look she got had a substantial helping of ‘seriously?’ about it and Kara directed her next words at the hologram. “Query: how many operators are present in this room?”

“Two.”

“Seems like we’re a we to them at least and that’s good enough.”

“Good enough for what?”

“To access this…” Kara gestured around the room. “I think your first ones left you more than you knew…”

“Wait… wait you think there might be something here that still works? That could help us defeat Brainiac?” Adora looked skeptical but Kara nodded enthusiastically.

“Why not? The control room does and it seems it’s been undisturbed for, well, a long time. Centuries maybe. If they haven’t been used and your first one tech is anything like the Kryptonian design I know there’s almost no moving parts, nothing to wear down, seize or break if you’re not using it.”

Adora’s skeptical glance slowly turned to a soft smile, hope shining in her eyes. “Yeah…. well, let’s find out. Uh… what defences are available?” She asked the hologram and to her joy it actually seemed to recognise her question for a change!

“Two of the planetary weapons batteries have partial charge. Planetary shield generators are capable of 50% power for at least a standard Etherian year. Emergency evacuation system is available but receiving stations are not transmitting.”

“Woah…” Adora shook her head in disbelief. “And all this was right here when we were fighting the Horde? Why didn’t Mara tell me?”

“Umm, you’d need two Krypt….uh, First One’s to access it.” Kara told her gently. “If our cultures were similar we tended to make sure no one person could access our weapons or defences on their own. Helped keep temptation away from those who… couldn’t handle it.”

“Oh. Well that does make sense. Still…” Adora took another longing glance around at what could have been then seemed to snap back to the present. “Doesn’t matter. What does matter is we’ve got it now. Come on, let’s see what we can do with it!”


	4. Chapter 4

“So… you and Adora?” Batwoman asked casually as Catra lent against the entrance to the Crystal Castle.

“Yeah, problem?” 

Kate laughed and shook her head. “Quite the opposite. And…” She hesitated but at this point what difference did it make? “it’s Kate by the way.”

Catra hesitated then nodded, a small smile flying across her face. “Yeah, well, I thought ‘Batwoman’ was a little on the nose, even for Etheria.”

“I’m assuming that this sort of First One thing happens a lot?”

Catra gave Kate a sharp look. “What makes you say that?”

“Well, you didn’t argue when she told you to get out of there and I figure your instincts when Adora may be in danger are much like mine and Superg… Kara. Plus you’ve been remarkably accepting of all this, Kara being a possible First One I mean, so it feels like this isn’t the first time you’ve dealt with weirdness like this.”

“Well… you’re not wrong there.” Catra said with a small shudder that rippled her fur. “Lot of memories, most of them bad.”

“But not all of them?”

“No. Not all of them.” Catra gave Kate a second look, like she was suddenly realising there was more than she’d first assumed. “You’re pretty good at reading people, aren’t you.”

“I’d like to think so.” Kate admitted. “When you fight alongside people with superpowers you kinda need to be.”

“And you really don’t? Have powers I mean?”

“No. Just a belt full of stuff and a positive attitude.” Kate grinned and Catra found herself returning it.

“Sounds familiar. Though I definitely didn’t have the positive attitude.” 

“Didn’t?”

“Well, you hang around Adora long enough and her optimism tends to be contagious.”

Kate laughed and shook her head. “I’m pretty sure Adora and Kara were separated at birth. She’s exactly the same way. Let me guess, bit of a martyr complex?”

“A bit? No. Entirely 100% determined to die for the cause, yes.” Catra smirked at a private joke. “Think I finally solved that one anyway.”

“Gave her something worth living for?” Kate asked innocently and to Catra’s surprise she didn’t find herself bristling at the knowing comment.

“What do you think?” Catra stretched slowly, showing off an enviable physique and a casual control of her body that only added to the allure. 

“I think Adora is an incredibly lucky woman.” Kate said with complete sincerity and Catra actually blushed.

“Yeah, well…. So’s Kara.” She muttered a little tongue-tied at having to deal with a compliment like that from, well, from someone who wasn’t Adora. At that moment the door slid down and the two blondes walked out with giddy excitement written all over their faces.

“We’ve got it!” Adora said to Catra. “We’ve got a way to cut off the skull ship! We can turn it on at any time!”

“That’s great! What is it?”

“A planetary shield! Can you believe it?”

“Wait…” Catra suddenly looked nervous. “Could that cut off Etheria from the rest of the universe again?”

“No.” It was Kara that answered and she seemed just as excited as Adora. “We reprogrammed the system to accept Adora as a solo operator. She can take the shield down any time she wants and even when it’s up there’ll be an access point over both poles of the planet. It’s safe.”

“So… that just leaves the base in what’s left of the Fright Zone.” Catra said slowly and her eyes glinted as her mind raced. “What do you say, time to go bury the past?”

“I was thinking more blow it up but sure, burying works too.” Adora teased. “We contacted the rest of our forces, they’ll meet us there after we’ve made a hole in their defences and caused a distraction.”

“Ah… knew you couldn’t resist showing off.” Catra said but there was a grin on her face when she said it. “Go on, you know you want to.”

Adora glanced at their guests and smirked as she summoned her sword. She raised it into the sky and cried out.

“For the honour of Grayskull!”

Adora exploded into light and for a moment Kate and Catra were forced to look away from the glare. Kara though saw what was happening and stared in shock as Adora seemed to almost double in height, her armour vanishing in the rainbow that engulfed her body. The shimmering mass seemed to pulse with its own heartbeat, becoming faster around her feet and ankles as it suddenly solidified into white boots with golden soles. The effect spread to her wrists as golden vambraces materialised over her skin then the light burst outwards to leave Adora glad in a full length white body suit, golden armour curving around her thighs, shoulders and chest. Her arms were bare save the armour around her wrists and a golden head piece with upswept wings formed around her forehead and eyes. Around her waist a half-skirt billowed in the breeze of her transformation, red lining adding a touch of menace to the otherwise angelic look. 

“Woah…” Kate whispered under her breath.

“Yeah.” Catra sighed happily, clearly drinking in the eye candy. “Never get tired of that. Oh, Kara, Kate, meet She-Ra.”

“That’s quite the transformation.” Kara stammered, caught up in the moment herself. “Umm… are you still… I mean…”

She-Ra laughed and while her voice was a little deeper it was still recognisably Adora’s. “Yeah, I’m still me. The powers don’t change that.”

“Well I wouldn’t say *that*…” Catra teased, wrapping an arm around She-Ra’s waist. “You do tend to think ahead a bit more when you’re not eight feet tall and almost invincible.”

Catra was obviously enjoying the moment and gave their guests a grin that wasn’t entirely nice. “So you two still coming along for this fight?”

“Oh I think so.” Kate replied with, matching Catra’s grin. “Kara, honey, you want to get dressed?”

“I.. uh….”

Kate frowned and glanced at her wife who, to Kate’s astonishment, was blushing. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing! Nothing’s wrong it’s just… umm….”

Kate searched Kara’s face for a hint as to what the problem might be… and then it hit her. “Oh… oh you’re kidding?” Kate started to laugh, a very odd sight when she was wearing the full Batsuit. “You have got to be kidding!”

“Shut up!” Kara said, blushing even harder as Catra and She-Ra looked at her in confusion. 

“You are aren’t you?”

“No!”

“You’re jealous!”

“No! Of course not! I mean…” Kara realised what she’d just said and turned to She-Ra. “Uh, sorry, you’re awesome and this is great but I’m not jealous of that. Of you I mean! Oh Rao…”

Kate tried to gather her thoughts enough to figure out the unexpected puzzle and a second or two later broke into a knowing smile. “It’s the transformation isn’t it?”

“… maybe….”

“The ONE time you don’t have the coolest costume change in the room and you’re jealous? Seriously?”

“No! Umm, well, I mean… yes, yes a bit…” Kara hung her head and was surprised to find Kate’s hand cupping her chin, lifting her eyes back to meet those knowing blue sparks that seemed to be able to read her soul. 

“You’ll still impress ‘em, don’t worry.” Kate whispered. “Also no matter how many times I see you do this it’s still hot as hell.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“Even if I don’t get a tiara?”

“Told you you were a princess.” Kate said with a wink and Kara laughed despite herself.

“Alright, alright, but this is going to be such a let down after that.” She reached up and swept her glasses aside in one dramatic gesture, expecting the nanites to go to work layering her super suit into place. Instead there was another blinding flash of light and sparks exploded from her glasses, spiralling out to form an archway above her head. From the highest point of the arch a spray of white sparkles spun down in a tight spiral, following the outline of Kara’s body. As it passed her throat her super suit started to appear, more sparks falling from above in a cone that grew until they exploded into a brilliant golden backdrop that faded to leave Supergirl standing on the grass of Etheria.

“What the hell was that!” Kara said in shock.

“No idea but it seemed to prefer the retro look.” Kate said as she tried to commit every detail of the last few seconds to memory.

“Huh? What do you…” Kara looked down and it was only then she realised her normal body suit hadn’t formed. Instead she was back in the skirt and tights she’d worn for the first few years of her superhero career. “Okay, what’s going on!” She looked around but Kate, She-Ra and Catra were all just staring at the beautiful blonde in the short skirt. 

“No idea but I’m not complaining.” Kate said with a chuckle. “Must just be a quirk of this universe, like that one we went to with Carol being based on music. Here First One’s get cool transformation effects.”

“It was pretty cool.” Catra said, obviously a little smitten. As it turned out a bit too obviously for She-Ra’s taste as she stepped forward and held the sword aloft.

“It was but we can’t waste time.” A beam of light pulsed from the sword and was answered a moment or two later by a whinny from the sky. Soaring down from the clouds came a white horse with rainbow wings sprouting from his flanks and a golden horn growing from his forehead. No, Kate corrected herself as the always-watching part of her mind made rapid notes. Not a horse, an alicorn. 

“You summoned your noble stead?” The horse asked the question in a way that Kara could only compare to a second rate movie trailer voice over. 

“We’re off to end this Swift Wind. Can you carry me and Catra to the Fright Zone?”

“Of course! Buuuut what about those two?”

“Oh I’m sure they can think of something.” She-Ra smiled at Supergirl pointing to the far tree line. “And if not there’s a handful of skiffs over there you can use. Just point the nose at the setting sun.”

She swung herself up into the saddle then reached out and offered a hand to Catra who snorted in disbelief before valuing effortlessly to land between She-Ra and Swift Wind’s neck. Without another word the winged horse tensed and took off into the sky,

“Well that’s great.” Kara said sulkily. “I guess we’re taking the skiff then.”

“Why?” Kate asked and Kara stopped to look at her quizzically. 

“Uh… because last I checked we were all out of flying horses?”

“Well, yes, that’s true. But it’s not our style anyway. Besides my noble steed is right here.”

“Huh? What do you… oh. OH no. Noooooooooooope. Not happening. No. What are you… no…. Leave the cowl on… don’t you…… that’s not fair! Come on….. oh not the lower lip, that’s just cruel! No! No, absolutely not, no! Final word, no!”

“So you planning on going back for them?” Catra asked the woman she loved as she lent back into her strength and warmth.

“Only if they can’t figure out the skiff.”

“That wasn’t a nice thing you just did.” Catra pointed out. 

“You must be rubbing off on me.”

“Well if you insist….”

“Hey, no, not now. Priorities!”

“You’re always my priority love, you know that.”

“Yeah I do.” She-Ra admitted with a rather goofy grin. “You’re right though it wasn’t nice maybe we should go back and…”

“You two still here? I’d have thought you’d be halfway to the Fright Zone by now.” Kate’s cheerful voice interrupted the mixed bickering and flirting. The Etherians looked around in surprise and squeaked in shock as Kate rose into sight beside them.

“How are you doing that!” Catra demanded and looked down… to see Supergirl flying along, Kate sitting seemingly quite comfortably on her back. There was a very quiet low level muttering coming from Kara which Catra thought sounded something like ‘stupid unfair pout with those big blue eyes’.

“You have got to be kidding!” She-Ra groaned.

“No, and she doesn’t need as many apples as you’d think either.” Kate said with a snicker then grabbed for Kara’s right shoulder as her wife dipped a little sending Kate skittering across her slim back.

“One steed comment, just one, and I *will* find the coldest river on this planet and drop you in it.” Kara promised, levelling out.

“Fair enough.” Kate said with a smirk. “But now that we’re all… umm… mobile…”

“You were going to say mounted up weren’t you?” Kara interjected.

“No no, not at all. That’s for after we win.” Kate said, stroking Kara’s hair in a way that should have been condescending but ended up sending a shiver through the Girl of Steel. “Talking of which, shall we go save the world?”

“Sounds good to me!” She-Ra said with a laugh. “Follow us!”

**Author's Note:**

> Ended up splitting this into two separate entries to give everything time to breathe. The character beats are way too fun to rush and I'm having to be a little careful writing the She-Ra characters to make sure they're vaguely kinda sorta on brand. Hope it all rings mostly true, especially for those fans of both series.
> 
> On a sorta kinda related note, a quick question: is it my imagination of would Ruby Rose make a pretty damn good live action Catra (uh, assuming there's a way to do that without the never-ending horror we saw recently in Cats)? There's some shots (especially with Catra's end of S5 look) that really could have been kinda modelled on her IMO.


End file.
